Chapter 5: Research the Relationships

The telling of every good story has one key component--tension.  And how does this happen?  Through relationship.  Every part of Scripture that you memorize is rich with relationship.  Understanding these relationships will bring to light the meaning of the human and heavenly interaction.   This is what step one is about, discovering and researching the relationships.

Step One:  Research the Relationships

There are many factors that affect relationship.  Where are the people from?  Where are they located?  What is their gender?  Role?  Occupation?  Status?   Family background?  Personality?  Character?  For example a person from Nazareth (“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”) is going to relate differently to someone from Jerusalem, the city of God’s favor yet a dangerous city.  A wealthy person is going to relate differently to a poor person (the question of economic status).  A priest is going to relate differently to a peasant (the question of social status).  A middle-eastern man is going to relate differently to a middle-eastern woman (the question of gender).  An older middle-eastern brother is going to relate differently to a younger brother (the question of age).  All of these paint the picture of what is going on in the background of relationships.

The best thing is to begin to ask questions and find answers.  How does geography, economy, social standing, family roles, history, etc… play into the relationships?  Do they have good character or bad?  How was something said?  Where do these create tensions?  What was the look on Jesus face when he saw something happen and what was the look on the face of other’s when they heard Jesus?  And why? What was Sarah feeling when her husband Abraham asked her to lie and how did she show it? 

Relationship is everything in a story.  Discover its depths.  This can be done through Bible-background books, maps, commentaries, etc..  The goal is to understand the relationships through the context of the day in which it was written. 

For example, look at the parable of the Prodigal Son through the eyes of Middle-eastern culture.  In Middle Eastern culture then and now, it is the older brother’s high responsibility to defend the honor of the family, especially the father’s honor.  With this in mind the parable of the Prodigal Son is one that rouses fury. That the older brother acquiesced and did not bring discipline to the younger brother’s request for the inheritance points the story to that of an evil older brother.  And that he didn’t refuse the money but appears to have taken his portion is absolutely scandalous.   In reality this parable is a slap in the face to the Pharisees,  “the older brothers,” who did not care much for the return of the lost ones or their Father.  It’s one of the reasons they wanted to kill Jesus.

Or take the example of when Jesus was teaching and his mother and brother were outside (Mark 3:31-35).  His family thought that Jesus had lost his mind.  From a middle-eastern perspective, it was the brothers who were to defend the family honor.  They even went so far as to bring their mother to try to pressure Jesus to stop his ludicrous teaching.  It didn’t work.  He knew what they were up to. 

Understanding the relational situation helps to shed light on what is going on in the story.  It includes background, context, personalities, subject at hand, history and so much more.

Consider the life of Abraham.  He is a person in the Bible that most people know.  You could probably tell his own story, but do you know his family background?  Do you know the name “Terah?”  The name we should all have known instead of Abraham?

If you ask the questions of relationship, you will discover that when Abraham was still in Ur with his family, he had a brother that died.  It was during that time that Abraham’s father, Terah, received a call or an inclination to go to the land of Canaan.  So Terah took his wife, his son Abraham and his wife and his grandchild named Lot from his deceased son then left for Canaan.  It appears that the third brother, Nahor did not go. 

The family set out to Canaan by going north around the Jordan but about halfway to Canaan, they stopped.  Terah had intended to go to Canaan but did not make it there.  The place where he stopped they named Haran, the name of Terah’s son that had died.  Perhaps his father could not deal with his grief anymore.  We really don’t know, but for whatever reason, he settled half way.  It was a mission unfulfilled.  The epitaph of Terah’s journey reads, “they settled there” (Gen 11:21-32). 

But God’s promises and purposes were not to be foiled.  The call of God was transferred to his son and Abraham rose to the occasion.  He took his wife, children and flocks and finished the journey to Canaan.  But he too had struggles with doing things half way, telling half-truths about his wife.  Sons often learn from their fathers.  It took him learning the hard way, almost sacrificing his son Isaac on the altar before he began to walk in whole-hearted obedience to the Lord.

What we’re trying to do through relational research is to understand as much as possible of what is going on and why the story is being told.  While we cannot always recreate the drama of the moments of Scripture, what we can do is cultivate a deeper connection through understanding the text.  It encompasses culture, history, gender, family, economic status, nationality and so much more.  But the more we understand these things, the more we understand the depths and the riches of the story. Research, meditation and discovery is a necessary part of this process.  And it’s a process that doesn’t have limits to how far we can go.